Book Club 2: Poll

Are you able to give a rough idea of what the last chapter of the first ~200 pages will be? I'm reading an e-book copy, so it's not paginated in the same way, and I want to keep the end point in my mind if I read past it. It's okay if it's not final or precise; I just want to mark the area of the plot in my mind when I come to it.

Just 2 more votes to a runoff for 2nd place...

So, I got How To Calculate Quickly because it includes much more than volumes. Also, it comes neatly all in one book. Just kidding, of course. I got the eBook for $3. Unabridged Moby Dick eBook for $1, Enriched edition. I checked out a digital audio Moby Dick from my local community college. Since it's digital, I don't need to go there to get it, so I have it open in my browser. So far, I prefer the reading experience. We'll see, though. P.S. I guess I should say the reason I'm balking at the audio is the language isn't conversational, ie, modern. I mean, it's conversational for its time, & that's fine for reading. P.P.S. And, that said, there's a correction term. One gets used to it. I'm OK with Shakespeare. Sort of OK with Chaucer. OK with the King James Bible too. In that light, Melville is supposed to be just a speed bump. Heh, we'll see. Me, & my mini-brain pals. That "we". :)

I voted. Would've done it earlier, but couldn't make up my mind who I wanted to be my next governor. Today I had the happy thought that it was the wrong question. I just needed to cast a vote. In the fall, it'll be a top 2 runoff. One candidate is leading. 2 are running neck & neck for 2nd place. In that light, the move is blinding like a mate in 1. Support for #2 is what matters. That spot pits the 2 parties. In the fall, it can either be a head-to-head between the parties, or 2 rivals from the same party. Hah! I put my shoulder to that end. What's this got to do with the price of beans? Well, I haven't done my due diligence yet. The clock is ticking. But I don't need to pick what books to add to my reading list on that clock. I've been cherry-picking books from Angela's reviews bc she reads books I wouldn't. Sometimes the ones she doesn't quite recommend. That list is short term, but not that short. It's not a bucket list. I'll be adding to it until I can't. There'll be leftovers at the end. Que sera. I observe for this short clock, Angela has an ulterior motive. And I thought, maybe so do I. Moby Dick is a known quantity & it's ahead. It's going to wind up on my list anyway. Why not just vote tactically for something I haven't read? So that's what I did. Based on just the above descriptions, I picked one of the two that are tied for 2nd place. Another tactical vote.

So glad to see Moby Dick, I’ve been meaning to reread also for a LONG time. I also just happened to reread “Bartleby, the Scrivener” a couple weeks ago, and I had not really made the connection when I read both of these works as a teenager that these were both Herman Melville, and how interesting that fact is. Like, I knew, but didn’t really compare them, ya know? A couple years separated those reads. Anyway, I love rereading a book as an adult that you read and loved as a teenager, it’s like a whole new experience, but more full for having had that first experience with it with that totally different perspective. I had a buddy once ask if their kid should hold off reading some of the classics that we could expect would be a little above their level and I say hell no! Bc it’s such a special thing to read a good book at different stages of life (plus, I think kids should always read above their level, I think they tend to meet the material in meaningful ways)

(maybe obvious but not all editions of MD are paginated alike so you should pick a chapter, i suggest XLI)

I loved the first volume of On the Calculation of Volume, I'd love to see more people read it!

Never read Moby-Dick. For a non-native English speaker, is it an easy read or am I better off reading it in my native language?

This is good. I've only read Moby Dick, when I was a kid. The other 4, never heard of them. I can't vote for them without more research. I'm a long-book kinda person now. I've always loved short stories & little books. But when I first moved to the adults section, I went straight to the SF section, ran thru the Hugo winners, ran thru Asimov, Heinlein, Blish, Clarke, discovered big books. Like, The Past thru Tomorrow, Stand on Zanzibar. Then I took to classics. The bigger the better. Kipling, Dickens, Twain, Jack London... Anyway, Moby Dick was one. Nice, big one. I'm a binge watcher, well, I was always a binge reader. I'd read a big book not putting it down even if it took all night & all the next day. For me, the first 200 pages of Moby Dick is some kind of sick joke. I wouldn't mind it, but I'd as soon skip it as not finish it. I choose to describe my early aversion to big books as a phase that I grew out of. I might fantasize that someday you'll grow out of it too. Not that it'd really matter that much, to either of us. But, you know, it's good to be in good company, & big books people seems to be at a premium nowadays. tl;dr Not ready to vote.

I'm really enjoying dungeon crawler carl. I really enjoyed the first book and binge read it in 12 hrs! Currently working on the 3rd book.

Definitely Carl! And I second above comment- go for the audiobook it’s stellar

My wife is highly recommending Dungeon Crawler Carl (audiobook).

I looked up a slightly more detailed blurb for Freezing Point, and it sounds way more interesting than what the blurb here lets on. Also, the author's name is "Anders", not "Andres", for anyone who may end up confused. I think my preference is for Signs, followed by Freezing Point, but I don't think I'd be mad about any of them. If we end up on Moby-Dick, we've gotta continue it as an in-between read that we discuss at the end of the year or something, though. Getting people to start a classic and then never having the resolution of talking about the complete work together would be criminal.

I didn’t read Moby Dick until a couple of years ago, so if it wins I will not be mad (I didn’t vote for it). It’s wonderful and funnier than I was expecting.

I remember trying to start Moby Dick as a kid (11-12) and abandoning it. So, yeah, probably something else.

I keep hearing about Dungeon Crawler Carl. Been meaning to pick it up just from all the hype it's been getting lately.

Moby and Carl would be... an essay.

The only Melville I've read is a very short novel, Bartleby the Scrivener (which is also one of my favorites). I'd be down for some incentive to finally go after the big one!

Dungeon Crawler Carl is one of ten with the author publishing about one a year, at least after he got out of his COVID era self imposed lockdown. Eight are out. I love DCC and can cite it like a Baptist preacher names beatitudes by heart. But I will say the first novel isn’t the best in the series. Though obviously I do still think it is worth voting for.

OMG DCC is so much fun… The most fun I’ve had reading fiction since Pratchett and Douglas Adams.

Moby-Dick is just such a great book and so fun.

What a range of interests, fantasy, metaphysics?, superstition. Let's dip into Moby-Dick

No bad options, but I went with Freezing Point and On the Calculation of Volume. One because I'm fascinated with 60-90s sci fi treating the incompetent weirdos pushing the idea of freezing people/heads as viable in the real world like they were not incompetent weirdos. The other because I love a time loop plot. I should rewatch my DVDs of Daybreak.

Got Moby-Dick for Christmas last year, so my first ever read was imminent, anyway!

Go lowbrow with DCC - a fun juxtaposition with Le Guin.

I'd do an entire Moby Dick

On the Calculation of Volume is really good. Also love Moby Dick, of course.

I've always wanted to read Moby dick and maybe this will be the opportunity to finally cross that off my list.

I just finished Blood Meridian (astounding btw) and apparently Moby Dick is written all over it, I was planning on reading that very soon!

I'm on book 8 of dungeon crawler carl. The audiobook is needed. Do not read it. Which may put a damper on your book club. But the voice acting with Jeff Hayes is top tier.

I'm biased in that Moby-Dick is my favourite classic novel, but any way I can encourage new readers to approach it, I'll take.